Born in India, he was Baptised in St Thomas Cathedral in Bombay. His service record states he was born in St Malo, France.
He attended Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1925. Cyril Stears of Cranbrook Patrol recalled that he had a rowing Blue from his time there.
His mother, Lady Winifred Warnedord Strangman (28 Feb 1874 to 26 Jun 1955) has a memorial in St Michael and All Angels Church, Highworth, Wiltshire, home to the Auxiliary Units Headquarters. Perhaps the address “c/o GPO Highworth”, first attracted Lawrence to apply for Auxiliary Units service? His father, Sir Thomas Joseph Strangman, was a Barrister who spent most of his life in India. He is perhaps most famous as the first lawyer to successfully prosecute Gandhi. By the time of the Second World War he had returned to the UK and was a bencher at Lincolns Inn.
Lawrence was a noted collector of rare books and a member of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society. The sale of his collection by Sotheby's in 1965 took three days, with the better part of the total donated by his niece to Trinity Hall, Cambridge University. Books from his collection still appear regularly for sale, identified by his bookplates.
| Unit or location | Role | Posted from | until |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Kent Scout Section | Scout Section Commander | 06 Mar 1941 | 15 Sep 1942 |
| Sherwood, Goathurst, Somerset | Intelligence Officer | 06 Oct 1942 | 09 Mar 1943 |
| Somerset | Intelligence Officer | 06 Oct 1942 | 25 Aug 1943 |
| Suffolk | Intelligence Officer | 04 Sep 1943 | 03 Dec 1944 |
Charterhouse, Godalming, Surrey
Trinity College, Cambridge, 1925-1928 (BA 1928)
Engineer
14 March - 15 April 1927 he was briefly Gazetted as Pilot Officer on probation, Class A.A., General Duties Branch, Reserve of Air Force Officers, possibly as part of the University Squadron.
2 May 1939 - Enlisted Territorial army (Queen Victoria’s Rifles) London.
9 Sept 1939 - Mobilized, London.
19 Aug 1940 - Posted 6th Officer Cadet training wing, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Portsmouth.
19 Oct 1940 - Joined 1st Training Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Woolwich. To be 2nd Lieutenant.
5 March 1941 - Posting to General Headquarters, Home Forces.
6 March 1941 - Assumed appointment of Scout Section Officer (Auxiliary Units). West Kent Scout Section. He would most likely have attended a week long course for Scout Section Officers at Coleshill House during this time.
19 April 1942 - War sub Lieutenant.
15 Sept 1942 - Relinquished above and appointed, Intelligence Officer Auxiliary Units, with Acting rank of Captain. Subsequently he moved to Somerset when appointed Intelligence Officer (IO) for the county, succeeding Captain Ian Fenwick. He was Somerset's IO from October 1942 until August 1943. The Beatrice Temple Diary records a meeting with the Special Duties ATS commander and Captain Fenwick and Special Duties IO Captain Coxwell-Rogers on 3 January 1943, suggesting a handover period between the Somerset IOs. He then moved to Suffolk, taking over as Intelligence Officer there, until the role ceased to exist in the latter half of 1944.
6 March 1944 - Medical board fitness test, Military Hospital, Oxford.
7 March 1944 - Discharged from Hospital.
26 July 1944 - Admitted Ipswich General Hospital, moderate injuries on duty, not to blame.
3 Aug 1944 - Discharged from Hospital.
6 Oct 1944 - Admitted to Hospital.
13 Oct 1944 - Discharged from Hospital.
1 Jan 1945 - To Relinquish command, due to disability, and granted Honorary rank of Captain.
His younger brother was James Gonville Thomas Joseph Strangman, 81853 commissioned in the RAF on 15th July 1940 (London Gazette 30 July 1940.) James Gonville resigned his commission on 25th September 1944, retaining the rank of Squadron Leader (London Gazette 7 Nov 1944). Gonville was apparently a very awkward customer, and the two brothers did not get on.
